by Christina Soontornvat
author of The Blunders: A Counting Catastrophe!

10. They are meant to be shared with someone — a child, a grownup, or even a whole classroom full of wiggly people.

9. You can give your favorite ones as gifts to nice people. Mean people should never be given picture books. Give them smelly cheese, loosely wrapped in thin newspaper instead. 

8. They can be so silly that you bust a gut laughing (like KID COACH by Rob Justus).

7. They can be so moving that they bring a tear to your eye (like MUSLIM GIRLS RISE by Saira Mir and Aaliya Jaleel).

6. They don’t have to have any words at all (like DRAWN TOGETHER by Minh Lê and Dan Santat).

5. You can read them again and again and again. (When you are the parent of a three-year-old, this can seem annoying at the time, but years later you will still remember all the words to CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM, and that’s gotta be worth something). 

4. Sometimes when you read them again, you catch something that you missed the first time (like in TEA PARTY IN THE WOODS by Akiko Miyakoshi).

3. They can help you feel fully seen, and loved just as you are (like JUST LIKE ME, by Vanessa Brantley-Newton).

2. We picture book authors write our books for children, but you don’t have to be a child or have a child to enjoy them. In fact, I think our world would be a way better place if all the grownups read a picture book every day.

1. Wait . . . I don’t have this one . . . hold on a second — I must have lost count!

Annnnd . . . cue the segue to my new picture book, out today:
THE BLUNDERS: A COUNTING CATASTROPHE! (Gosh, that was brilliant, wasn't it? You never saw that coming.)

Christina Soontornvat is the author of several books for young children, including the Diary of an Ice Princess chapter book series and the forthcoming novel, A Wish in the Dark. The Blunders: A Counting Catastrophe! is her first picture book. Learn more about all her books at www.soontornvat.com/books/

Connect with Christina:
Twitter: @soontornvat
Instagram: @csoontornvat

Connect with illustrator Colin Jack:
Tumblr: colinjack.tumblr.com
Instagram: @colinjackstories